Quiet start for New Zealand shares

File photo / Paul Estcourt

The New Zealand sharemarket had a lacklustre start to the week, with little movement in stock prices in early trading.

Among the few leading stocks to gain in the first 15 minutes was market operator NZX, rising 2c to $1.64, after this morning announcing an agreement with the Reserve Bank to maintain competing but interoperable securities settlement systems.

The RB and NZX run New Zealand's two main settlement systems - NZClear and New Zealand Clearing Ltd, respectively - and last year the Capital Markets Development Taskforce recommended that they work together to ensure an efficient clearing and settlement infrastructure that supports the development of capital markets in New Zealand.

Another early riser was Pike River Coal, up 3c to $1.16, after announcing its West Coast mine had passed another milestone, of installing its hydro-monitor system, and continued to increase daily production.

The benchmark NZX-50 index edged up 1.28 points to 3244.93, with no change to the prices of heavyweight stocks Contact Energy, Telecom and Fletcher Building.

Carpet manufacturer Cavalier posted a 7c gain to $2.98, while Auckland Airport firmed 1c to $2.05.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances shed 1c to 57c while the Healthcare stock rose 1c to $3.14.

The only other early movers were Sky City, down 1c to $2.93, and Vector, down 2c to $2.28.

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US stocks ended last week firmly as a weak jobs report strengthened the case for further government stimulus and cheaper money.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 57.90 points, or 0.53 per cent, to close at 11,006.48. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 7.09 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 1165.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 18.24 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 2401.91.

It was the first time the Dow closed above 11,000 since May 3.

For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 each rose 1.6 per cent, while the Nasdaq gained 1.3 per cent.

NZPA